Asus Chromebooks reportedly set to launch by end of year

Asus plans to enter the Chromebook market by the end of 2013 in an attempt to hook more consumers and boost its shipment numbers for notebooks, according to a new report.

Digitimes reported on Thursday that Asus wants to nab consumers in the education industry, specifically. Upon experiencing a drop in notebook demand in Q3, Asus has begun looking at other options. The third quarter typically sees a back-to-school spike for manufacturers, but Asus fell from 22 to 24 million units to 17 to 19 million for the quarter in 2013. 

Read: Chromebook march continues, Acer and Asus reportedly planning new devices

Digitimes doesn't have the best track record. That said, the website originally reported in April that both Asus and Acer were considering Chromebooks for Q3 and Q4. Jim Wong, Acer's president, told investors earlier this month during a conference call that the company had indeed decided to pull back focus on Microsoft-based products in order to expand on Chromebook and Android-based products instead.

Read: Acer says more Chromebook and Android-based products are coming

Asus was more hesitant to embrace Chromebooks, but the company is apparently now more eager after seeing its notebook shipments drop. However, Chromebooks as a whole still suffer from weak demand. So, if the news is true, it'll be interesting to see whether Asus finds more success with Chromebooks.

There are no additional details at this time - including whether the company will launch just one Chromebook model or a few. Chromebooks are simply PCs running Google's Chrome OS. The first Chromebooks for sale - by Acer and Samsung - launched at Google I/O in May 2011 and began shipping a few weeks later. 

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Noted analyst talks iPhone 5S: 128GB storage and gold colour option

Noted KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has unleashed his predictions for the iPhone 5S, ahead of Apple's alleged (pretty much confirmed) 10 September media event. The often correct Apple observer says we'll see several new features included on the iPhone 5S, though it will keep the 4-inch screen we've come to know on the iPhone 5 - hence the "5S" naming.

So how will Apple sell this bad boy? Kuo says the rumoured fingerprint sensor we've been hearing so much about will be embedded into the home button, thanks to sapphire glass. It will allow users to have an extra security measure when unlocking the iPhone and, presumably, have something to do with purchasing on the App Store.

Apple is said to also be including 128GB of on-board storage in the most expensive model of the iPhone 5S - a huge jump from the 64GB currently available on the iPhone 5. Apple made the same change with the fourth generation iPad that debuted worldwide in February. No pricing for the larger model has been named. Will Apple add a fourth iPhone to the sales plan or will it rule out one of its lesser models?

While all the colours of the rainbows may not be available, as some might hope, Kuo says to expect a gold version of the iPhone 5S. We got a taste of a gold version of the iPhone when we went our own way in February - who knows if this is the route Apple will take. While Kuo doesn't discuss it in his latest report, the budget iPhone 5C is said to encompass a slew of colours, not just black, white, and gold. 

Given the iPhone 5S naming, you already can expect speed bumps. The analyst predicts Apple will launch the A7 system-on chip design with 1GB of LPDDR3 RAM with the handset, said to boost speeds by up to 20 per cent. Furthermore, the camera will feature a 8-megapixel camera like the iPhone 5, though it will use a larger f2.0 aperture lens assembly with dual LED flashes, as we've heard in previous rumours.

Of course, nothing about the iPhone 5S is confirmed until Tim Cook and Co. step on stage to wow the crowd. At the 10 September event Apple will also unveil the next version of iOS, dubbed iOS 7. Many pundits have noted iOS 7 is one of the biggest updates to Apple's platform since the first version, bringing several user interface enhancements. Apple first introduced the software at the Apple World Wide Developer Conference in June, and it has been in developers' hands for testing throughout the summer months.

If previous years are any indication, Apple will make the handset available on 20 September. That date is far from confirmed, but just a guess based on what we've seen so far.

At any rate, with less than a month to go Kuo has given us something to hopefully tide us over.

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